Ted Cruz fires back at Al Franken

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) are squaring off over whether new net neutrality rules would hinder or help the growth of the Internet.

After Cruz last week called net neutrality “ObamaCare for the Internet,” Franken over the weekend said that the Texas Republican had the issue “completely wrong.”

{mosads}The Texas senator “just doesn’t understand what this issue is,” Franken said.

On Monday, Cruz’s office fired back with YouTube videos and Vine clips that it said explains how tough Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules would “calcify” the Internet and prevent people from using it as a platform for innovation.

Cruz has been one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of President Obama’s call for the FCC to reclassify broadband Internet so that it can be regulated similar to a public utility, such as traditional phone lines.

Franken and other supporters of reclassification say it is the best way to ensure that Internet service providers such as Comcast or Verizon cannot prevent people from unfettered access to the Internet. 

Cruz has a different take, arguing the move would turn the potential of the iPhone into something as antiquated as a rotary phone.

The Texas senator has framed net neutrality as government takeover of the Internet and has listed it as among the threats to freedom online.